Beth and Rio: The Beginning
by eno1988
Summary: Set a while after the season finale. Rio is fighting his feelings for a woman he should despise. But Beth is relentless in he quest to stay close to him.
1. Chapter 1

Mature Content

Rio

It was perfect. Just how he imagined it would feel. He was ashamed at how many times he had thought about her in this way before he actually got to do it. Like a sickness there is no other cure for. His mouth grazed down the side of her face until it found solace in the crook of her neck. He heard a small moan escape her mouth into his ear, sending warm tingles down his spine in the perfect agony of wanting more, but not wanting to rush it. Rio watched his caramel hand float down her pale arm until him fingers were intertwined with hers. Beth let her head fall back as he kissed up the side of her neck and was back to her face. He looked into her wide blue eyes. The eyes that had captivated him for months. He tried to figure her out every time he dared looked at them for longer than a few moments. Who was this woman? He had never touched her and she had his attention more than any woman who had ever put her mouth on any part of his body.

He wanted to know what made her tick. What drew her to him? Was it because he was dangerous and exciting? Or was it real? His other hand made its was up to sit on her neck so his thumb could touch her bottom lip. Perfection. She stood in front of him silently begging for what he now knew they had both been waiting for, but he couldn't do it yet. This woman infuriated him, confused him, and impressed him with every turn she took. She managed to get herself out of every situation she got herself into, especially with him. And that didn't happen. He had let her slide so many times, she could have been covered in vegetable oil. He probably could have just slept with her months ago and got it out of his system, but she's not one of those women. She's not the one you get to pick up at the bar and take home. She's not one to let herself slip into some stranger's arms without a second thought. She's one you have to earn. He wanted to earn her.

Rio felt the softest hand begin to glide up his back under his shirt. Beth appeared to be tired of waiting for him to make a move. He gave her that half cocked grin and she smiled not so innocently back at him and bit her bottom lip. His erection jumped in his pants as he saw her teeth push into her soft lip. He leaned in toward her when his phone beeped. He groaned and clenched his jaw in annoyance. She just smiled up at him and he moved in again. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Rio's eyes shot open from his perfect dream. He lazily touched the stop button on his alarm and laid back staring at the ceiling. He shook his head in disbelief at how far gone he was getting over a damn suburban housewife. Then he looked under the cover at yet another morning boner, "Third time this week." He said to himself. Beth had haunted his dreams more than a few times the last few weeks and he had been keeping his distance from her hoping it would dissipate, but it was only worse. He found himself fighting the urge to show up at her house for a late night visit. He literally had nothing to discuss with her. He just wanted to get under her skin so she would get pissy with him and they could bicker for ten minutes and he would leave. That's the point he had gotten to with her. Just waiting for the next moment so he didn't appear too obvious to those around him. He should hate her. He shouldn't be giving her a second thought after what she did to him. Anybody else would be in a body bag, but his dumb ass gets out of jail and hands her a gun. She proved herself to him, but no he had to go on pretending to be disgusted at the very thought of her so his men wouldn't think he was going nuts. Rio didn't get affected this way by women. This is what he did to them. It was a whole new territory to be the one wondering about a person and what you possibly meant to them.

It turned him on that she stood up to him in the most drastic way anyone could. Test him like she did. Try to ruin his livelihood because he kicked her out of the club. He laughed to himself because he knew that was over simplifying. She was scared he would come for her and if she only knew how many times he argued with himself over it. It's what he would have done had it been anybody else. He knew what drove Beth. What made her do the things she does. He told her a dozen times to her face that he didn't a shit about her family, her kids, her dog, or her cheating husband, but he did. When he looked at her, he saw the years she put into that family just for Dean to yank the rug out from under her. She felt like she had nothing but wasted time on her hands. All her effort and hard work of trying to keep her family whole had gone down the drain because of a young piece of ass. Rio didn't understand how Dean had a real woman at home at his beckon call was able to fuck a blonde bimbo on his desk at work. It made him crazy. Her face, her hair, her thighs, her inner bad ass made him weak.

He found himself clenching his jaw again as he thought about her. So, he tossed the covers off and headed off to get ready for the day because he knew he would most likely run into her today.  
***

Beth

Beth, Ruby, and Annie all stared out the car window as Cisco drove them to the warehouse like a carpool mom. They were used to it at this point. Beth had started making Cisco muffins in the morning for the ride. Something told her he didn't get home cooked meals a lot being on Rio's schedule. Her mind wondered as she tuned Annie out as she talked to Ruby. Her forehead laid against the window wondering if he would deem her worthy of his presence today.

She hated this part. If someone had told her she would have regretted turning him in because she couldn't stand the thought of Rio not looking at her, she would have laughed in their face. Beth hated how distant he had made himself from her now. Not that she blamed him. She did turn him into the police. What did she expect? At the same time, these days Beth never knew what to expect. She had never expected to rob a grocery store. She had never expected that grocery store to be a front for money laundering. She never expected to come home to Rio and his boys in her kitchen. She never expected to smuggle counterfeit money over the Canadian border. She never expected to voluntarily go back to that warehouse for another piece of the take. And she sure a fuck never expected to feel heartbroken when a gang banger couldn't look her in the eye anymore.

Beth would never share this information out loud with Ruby and Annie, but she had secretly liked that she had become the one that Rio talked to. That he somewhat confided in and did business with for the three of them. Strangely enough she felt respected by him and that made her feel good. Dean hadn't respected her properly in ANY way is so long, she got a secret thrill out of being the one he looked at when he was talking. She got lost in that face. The hard angles. The lips that revealed the most amazing smile when prompted. He had a side that she hadn't seen but knew existed. Rio didn't do what did for nothing. He has people he loves and provides for. He just kept it hidden. Nobody went to the lengths he did for nothing. He didn't kill people for the sake of it. He protected his own. She respected that. It's what she did to him. She just needed him to see her like that again. Not as a rat or a burden. But someone he understood and respected.

Beth's thoughts were lost when the car stopped in front of the warehouse. Her breath hitched in her throat with anticipation that this would be the day she would seem for just a moment. Or that he would look at her like he did before.

Beth and Rio

The girls really had no idea what they had been doing the last couple of weeks. They were given orders to move stuff around so that's what they did. It was obvious it wasn't business as usual and Beth knew it was why everyone had a snarl on their face when they passed her. But no one had jumped her ass yet, so Rio must be on her side one way or another. Cisco was the only one that gave her a sympathetic smile from time to time. Baking usually won people over, but she knew that wouldn't be the case with Rio.

As she was going through some file boxes that needed to be moved, she heard that familiar voice. That grumbling mumbled speech of his. She looked up and saw him talking to Cisco and Carlos. He was deep in conversation with them about God knows what and she watched his hands move as he spoke. The sleeves of his black button down were rolled up to his elbows and she could see his toned forearms as he moved and she sighed deeply at how far gone she was.

Rio sensed her eyes on him as he addressed Carlos and Cisco. He could feel her begging him just to give her a look as she worked on organizing the files. He presence felt heavy on him as he tried to work his day around her. She was mere feet away and he ignored her.  
Beth huffed quietly as she realized she wasn't going to get what she wanted from him today. He wouldn't even cut his eyes at her and it no longer hurt her feelings. She was pissed. If she was such dirt under his feet why did her keep her here? Then she heard her name. She looked up and saw Cisco pointing to her. It seemed like he was explaining her task to Rio or maybe what files she was working on. Rio caught her eye for a second before he looked back to Cisco. Rio walked off and Cisco headed for Beth.

"You done with this box, Beth?" He asked as he went to pick it up.

"Yes, why?" She questioned looking up at him.

"Boss wants to look at it." He replied.

Beth arched her eyebrow, "After I've reorganized it from the mess he left it in?"

Cisco shrugged knowing it didn't matter why. Rio said jump, so he says how hi.

"She felt it rising in her chest, all the things she probably didn't need to say, but she felt like she was going to anyway. She grabbed the box from Cisco, "I'll take it." and walked off with purpose before he could protest.

Beth walked with vigor up the steps to the office above the warehouse where Rio would be and barged in.

Rio looked up from his computer and clenched his jaw when he saw it was Beth. He arched his eyebrow and closed the laptop he was studying and sat comfortably back in his seat. His stare was tense on hers as he waited. She was disheveled from working her hair was haphazardly clipped back leaving wavy tendrils falling around her face. It was how he imagined she would look after they had spent hours together.

"I asked Cisco to bring that to me. Not you." He said folding his hands across his lap.

Beth studied him for a moment before letting the box fall on his desk a little harder than necessary, "I was told to get these reorganized from where you had messed them up. I was told you were done with them, but now that I'm almost done getting them back in order, you need them."

"He let his head fall to the side and pursed his lips, "Yes, I do."

"For what?" She pushed, "We're shutdown. Why do you need to go through files for a non-operating business."

His jaw ticked from left to right as he grinded his teeth. Slowly he stood and leaned on the desk and looked through Beth, "Because it's none of you Goddamn business, yeah?"

She leaned on the desk to meet his gaze, "I think it's to make more work for me because you're pouting."

"Does that piss you off?" He asked calmly keeping his gaze cold.

"Yes, as a matter of fact!" She snapped back in his face.

His cool demeanor was almost scary to her at this moment.

"Elizabeth, I'd love nothing more than to piss you off right now."

NOTES: I've been reading some stories between these two and another writer said that there just wasn't enough stories about Beth and Rio. I agree! These guys have crazy chemistry on the show and it needs to be explored. Any feedback is welcome. I hope you enjoyed!


	2. Chapter 2

p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth had been home for a couple of hours and she was angry cleaning her kitchen as she replayed his words in her head over and over again. 'I'd love nothing more than to piss you off,' He grumbled with a cold sternness in his eyes. And it infuriated Beth even more that she was the cause of all of it and he had every right to be terrible to her after the stunt she pulled. He was livid with her and he was going to make sure she was miserable until it suited him. He got off on making her jump through hoops and she had no choice. Even if she didn't stay because of him, she owed him and was stuck between Rio and a hard place until he let her off the hook with her life. She shook her head as she looked around her now pristine house. She felt no sense of accomplishment looking at it sparkle. She just felt anger and emptiness and dissatisfaction./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"She was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard the door open and Dean entered the room. He moved slowly into the kitchen and Beth continued to scrub./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Did you forget something for the kids?" She asked looking up at him momentarily./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Dean shook his head, "No, they're with my mom and I was thinking maybe we could go eat or something." Beth sighed in annoyance and Dean held up his hands in surrender, "Beth, you've barely spoken to me without the kids around since that night. You left with him and I didn't know if I would see you alive again. You've got to give me something here. I don't know what you're doing or if we're all safe."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"She slapped her sponge down in the sink, "We're all alive, aren't we? I guess that means we're safe."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""You know what I mean, Beth. How long do you have to keep this up until he'll let you go?" He pushed./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""I don't know, Dean." She took a deep breath, "I turned him into the FBI. He's pretty pissed at me. He won't forget over night and he holds a grudge."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"He nodded in understanding as he sat at the island, "I know I have no right to ask you this, Bethy. But were sleeping with him? Are you sleeping with him?"/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth could feel her blue eyes turning to black as she looked at him and Dean looked like he wanted to crawl under the couch to hide./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""You're right, Dean! You have no right to ask me that! I did this to save my kids from the mess you created! And you're insinuating that all this is happening because I was fucking a gang banger and what?! Got dumped?! No, I haven't been sleeping with Rio. It's been a strictly business relationship. Always has been."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""I wasn't insinuating that you got us in this mess because you got dumped. I was wondering if you maybe tried to leave him and he wouldn't let you." He corrected not making it nay better judging by Beth's face./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Our working relationship was over and I was scared I knew too much. Besides he's not that kind of person to not let me leave. I get that now." She explained./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Dean's face turned indignant at the sound of her taking up for him, "Not that kind of person?! Did you forget what you came home to a few weeks ago? He beat me to a pulp and he could have killed you."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""But he didn't, Dean!"/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"He huffed in frustration, "I can't imagine why he didn't."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""What does that mean?" She questioned leaning forward on the counter./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""It means that even when you're holding a gun to him, it's obvious all he's thinking about is getting you naked. He didn't kill you because he has feelings for you, Beth! Are you so oblivious that you can't see the way he looks at you? I saw it at the birthday party, too. He looks at you like he wants to devour you." Dean was getting upset now./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth backed off a little when she saw his shoulders tremble some as he hid his face./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Dean." She said barely above a whisper./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""I'm going to get back to the kids." He relied without looking back up at her and quickly making his way out of the kitchen./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Tears filled the rims of her eyes and she threw her rubber gloves down on the counter in frustration. She didn't intend to push Dean to tears, but she also didn't feel like hearing from another person how Rio feels about her when he treats her like dirt under his feet. And she certainly didn't expect to be accused of being dumped in order for this whole mess to in-sue. She hadn't meant enough to Rio for any of that to be close to true./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Rio/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Rio massaged the his brow as he leaned back in his large chair from his laptop on his desk. His head was beginning to ache from the brightness. Not that he had concentrated much since Beth stormed out of his office. He knew he more than struck a nerve with what he said. Her nostrils flared, her eyes doubled in size, and her face turned ten shades of red in a matter of seconds. She had held his gaze for a moment longer before practically hissing and making her exit, leaving her box of files on his desk. He sat grinning after she left at the reaction he had gotten. He loved to fight with her, even though it wasn't a game to her like it was to him. He knew that kind of interaction wasn't the best way to nurture how he felt for her and part of him felt that's why he did it. He was trying to keep himself from going further over the edge. If he treated Beth more like he used to, it would take him down a road with her that he knew he wouldn't recover from./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Rio had been in love one time when he was a teenager. The pain of losing Sasha stayed with him to this day, mostly because he experienced a loss with her that was not typical for someone so young. She got killed because of the life Rio was coming into and he paid dearly. And if he was honest with himself, had she lived they probably wouldn't still be together, but he would never know for sure since she was killed so young. That memory of her dying has scarred him and stuck with him for fifteen years and Beth's big blue eyes reminded him of that pain. How innocent a life she led before he broke into her house. Sasha was innocent, too./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"He stood up and stretched his back and looked out the window at everybody bustling around. As he took a mental roll of everyone he noticed Beth was not there. Annie happened to look up in time to catch Rio's eye and he motioned for her to come upstairs. He saw the look of unease spread across her face, but she began trudging up the stairs nonetheless. She cracked open the door waiting for Rio to nod for her to come in. He sat on the edge of his desk as Annie shut the door./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Where's your sister?" He asked crossing his arms./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Um, she had a thing with the kids. Soccer started back so she had to get them to practice." She answered tucking her hair away from her face and enjoying the AC./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""So, she just leaves when she wants to now?" He questioned through his tense mouth./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Annie huffed and threw her head back, "I don't know why she didn't tell you, Rio. I don't pretend to understand the dynamic between you two, okay? Leave me out of this lover's quarrel."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Rio took a deep breath of annoyance as he remembered why he talked to Ruby and not Annie if Beth wasn't around, "You and your sister are the biggest pain's in my ass."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""I will gladly stop working." Annie retorted, "Just say the word."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"He went to the window again, "You three owe me. Big time. Your sister nearly fucked me for the rest of my life."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Fucked you or fucked you over?" She snapped causing him to jerk his head back in her direction, "It's a fine line isn't it, Rio? All you had to do was kill her, but you didn't do that. I wonder why. I can see the looks Beth gets from all the other people here. They're all staring wondering why she's still breathing and allowed to be here."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"He kept his composure as he leaned against the window to face her again, pursing his lips momentarily, "You tell her that she has to clear leaving early with me."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Her name is Beth in case you forgot and tell her yourself. I told you I'm not getting in the middle of your lover's quarrel. I've got work to finish so I can go home to my kid." She said with finality and shut the door behind her./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;" /p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth and Rio/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"He walked up on her back deck as he had done multiple times before. He always had no problem breezing through her backdoor and making himself welcome. He had to remind himself that it was no different now as hesitation stopped his hand from turning the knob. But he pushed the door open anyway and crept in. The house was quiet. The kids were either gone or asleep. He looked into the kitchen and saw an open bottle of wine and he heard Beth in the living room. He peaked in to see her on the couch with a glass of wine with Annie on speaker phone./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""What did Deansie say about it when he stopped by?" Annie asked on the other end of the line./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""He wanted me to talk to him about everything that's happening and believe me, Annie, I know I should. He has a right to know but every time I look at him I get so mad that I don't give a shit to tell him. I don't care that he's in the dark. I don't care that Rio kicked his ass. I just want him to help me with the kids so I can get this done." Beth explained taking a sip of her wine./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""True that, sister." Annie mumbled through the speaker./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Oh! And!" Beth exclaimed, "Get this. He had the audacity to ask me if I was sleeping with Rio. And implied that this all went down because we had a sexual relationship that went bad."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth could hear Annie choking of the sip of wine she just took, "Excuse me! You got dumped by hot gang friend so you turned him in."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Rio quietly chuckled at being called "hot gang friend."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Nope. He asked me if I tried to leave and Rio wouldn't let me, so I turned him in because that was the only way to get away." Beth corrected./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Did you lose it?" Her sister questioned crunching on some kind of crackers./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Of course. I told him Rio wasn't that kind of person. If I wanted to leave he would let me leave. Then that was a whole new can of worms when I defended him. Dean put on his sad, puppy dog face and he actually teared up." She sighed swallowing the rest of her wine./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""I mean just because you have had a few thoughts about Rio's junk free swinging in your bedroom doesn't mean you're a cheating dick like Deansie."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Annie!"/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Oh, I'm sorry. Would it not be in the bedroom? Maybe the shower. Ohh, oh in the laundry room on top of the dryer while it's going. I know you've thought about it. I mean you've had a couple of glasses when we talked about it, but the drunk mind speaks a sober heart." Annie argued./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Well, I certainly don't need an imagination when you're writing porn scenes for me in your spare time." She became solemn in that moment, "It doesn't matter anyway. He won't even look at me anymore. It's like pulling teeth to get him to acknowledge me for even a second."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Rio's breath caught in his throat and his stomach twisted in protest to what he was feeling. Affirmation was the last thing he needed to hear tonight./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Was he mad I left early?"/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Yeah." Annie sang into the phone, "I told him you had to get the kids to soccer."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Thanks. I just couldn't be there after we fought. I half expected him to show up here tonight and chew my ass out." Beth admitted sounding a little disappointed that it hadn't happened./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Rio smiled again at this. She knew him too well at this point. He wanted to jump around the corner and yell surprise, but he kept it together. Plus soccer practice was a lie. He wanted Beth to be honest with him, but he hadn't exactly had a demeanor to make her feel comfortable enough to tell him the truth. He felt as Beth did. He hated the distance between them, but he looked weak otherwise. The suburban housewife shouldn't get a free pass because he had a boner for her./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Well, the night is still young. Maybe he'll show." Annie tried to sound hopeful, "You can always dream about him."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth laughed, "Can't say that hasn't happened once or twice."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Rio shook his head. Maybe he should have eavesdropped on Beth a little more. It was informative and ego boosting./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Look, sis. I gotta get to bed. But I'll see you in the morning in the carpool with Cisco."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Okay, good night." Beth hit the end button on her phone and let her head fall back and sighed. She got up and headed to the kitchen for another glass of wine. The longer she stayed up the more disappointed to became and decided going to bed was the best thing to do./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Rio sat on her back deck for a minute trying to force himself to go home. When the house went dark, he sighed in relief because now the choice wasn't his. She was going to bed and he would leave her alone tonight, no matter how much he didn't want to./p 


	3. Chapter 3

p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth and Rio/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"It was the same ride to work that morning. She gave Cisco a muffin and sat with Annie and Ruby. It was the same dirty looks when she got to the warehouse. It was the same mundane organizing of Rio's files as it was the day before. She saw him in the window pacing back and forth as he talked on the phone or had business meetings. She liked seeing him work. Even though the business was dirty, he was a good business man. He was smart about it and skilled in making people want to follow him like she did. She picked up the box she just put into order and was walking it over to the others she had completed when one of the other female employees, a tall, butch, dark haired woman, knocked her in the shoulder causing her to drop the freshly arranged box and spill the files on the ground./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"She gave Beth a spiteful grin and shrugged, "Sorry, Mom." And kept on walking./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth gave her the evil eye until the woman finally turned away to continue her task. She could feel it happening. She could feel her anger rising and she had no desire to push it back down./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Beth, you okay?" Ruby asked as she bent down to help her get the files up./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"She placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder, "Don't, Ruby. Just leave it. I've got this."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Ruby's eyes grew wide, "Oh you do now, gangsta? I think you need to chill because you've got that look in your eye that's screams trouble that I've got to get you out of."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth took a deep breath and climbed onto a chair and then on top of the table next to it, "Hey." She said to which she got no reply from anybody, "Hey, excuse me." Still no reply. Beth looked down at Ruby, and back at the rest of the warehouse full of people, "Heeeeyyyy!" She screamed causing everyone to turn and look at her. She even saw Rio out of the corner of her eye come out to the platform at the top of the stairs, "Okay. I've got some things I want to say. First of all, I know everyone here hates me. I get it. I fucked everything up for everybody. Let's just make it a universal understanding that nobody wants me here but my sister and my best friend. So I can do without all the shitty looks and whispering while looking directly in my face. Second of all, no one likes that Rio is making me work off what I did. You'd all rather see me with a bullet in my head." A few of the people nodded in agreement and Beth rolled her eyes, "I didn't need you to agree with me, I just told you I know. But guess what? Killing me brings heat on all of you, so he's doing what's in everyone's best interest to keep a low profile. So it is what it is. And lastly, you." Beth said pointing at the woman that just bumped into her making her drop the box of files, "You have pushed me around one too many times. This box of shit on the ground that I just fixed is your problem now. Pick it up."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Complete silence fell on the room as Annie and Ruby held each other in prayer that Beth would leave the warehouse today in one piece./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""What is she thinking?" Annie whispered./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""You know when you go to prison? You find you the biggest bitch in there and make them your bitch. I think Beth is making the big scary one her bitch." Ruby replied in wide eyed panic./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Annie squeezed her eyes shut, "Oh dear God."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"The large woman looked at Beth and chuckled to herself, "Kiss. My. Ass."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth smiled and bit her bottom lip in anger as she looked at the ground contemplating her next move. She stepped down back onto the chair as she woman moved slowly towards Beth./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""I said pick it up." Beth repeated without an ounce of regret on her face./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"The woman stood there staring at Beth and Beth stared right back at her. Both of them silently daring the other one to make a move./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Pick. It. Up." She said slow and deliberately./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"The woman chuckled maniacally as she shoved Beth hard. She wobbled but found her balance again./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth laughed as she came to terms with her next move, "You know, I haven't gotten into a fight since the twelfth grade, but I kicked her ass and now I'm going to kick yours."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Before anyone anticipated it, Beth swung at the woman's face knocking her back a couple of steps. She jumped off the chair pushing her the ground and they began swapping hits. Everyone in the warehouse started hollering as Cisco and Carlos tried to break them up. Cisco got his hands under Beth's arms and began tugging her back. Beth was still kicking and knocked the woman in the face another time. Cisco walked her out of the crowd while Carlos had the other woman under control./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Beth, do you have a death wish?" Cisco asked as he got her in a corner by themselves./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth was readjusting her jaw as she thought about her answer, "Cisco, I find myself caring less and less. I was sick of being pushed around literally and figuratively. That bitch has been giving me shit since day one."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Can you blame her?" He asked./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""No!" Beth said loudly, "But I'm not a damn punching bag. I'm trying to make amends here."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""By hitting other employees?" He tried to clarify./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""She started it!" She argued when she saw Rio's face come around the corner with an extremely displeased look, "Great, now Daddy's got to get on to me, too." She snapped as she stomped off up the stairs with Rio angrily in tow./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth walked in his office and Rio slammed the door behind him. Before Beth knew what was happening he had her pushed up against the wall opposite the window where wondering eyes couldn't pry. His hand had the back of her hair while other had a finger in her face./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Are you trying to make me look stupid?" His deep voice grumbled barely above a whisper, "As many times as I have stuck my neck out for you, this is how you behave! Are you off your fucking medication or something?!"/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Well, normally you would have a gun in my face, so maybe you are too." She sounded tough as her adrenaline was still pumping through her veins but on the inside the fear was sitting heavy on her chest./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"He half grinned as he took out his gun and stuck it to her chin, "This gun? Is this what you prefer? You wanted to be treated like everyone else who misbehaves in my place, yeah? I can do that, Elizabeth. I can treat you like that, if that's how you want it."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth looked down at the gun and back at his face, "How's that any different from how you've been treating me lately? This is the most you've looked me in the eye since you broke into my house and handed me that gun. I pulled the trigger on the king, right? But it didn't make a difference to you."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""What is it you think we have?! Why do you think you're special? You work for me. That's all you've ever done. You think since you've got nice bodily assets that I give a shit about you more than anybody else, Elizabeth? You've got a pretty face and a niche for cleaning my money." He snarled at her, "You're not special. I kept you alive because you had the guts to pull the trigger on me. That's the only thing keeping you breathing."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth could see him trying to keep up the facade, "Then why did I see you leaving my backyard last night?" Rio's face froze, "You stop by everyone's house? That's a lot of people to personally check on. Were you coming to tell me how mad you were for me leaving early? Were you in my house last night, Rio?" He gave no answer as he kept the gun at her chin, "You want to hate me. I know that, but you just can't seem to do it. I don't blame you for wanting to hate me. But I'm pretty sure that gun isn't even loaded."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Rio was breathing hard and fast now as his dreams of the last few nights flooded through his head. She was doing it again. She was trying to break him down. He kept a hold on her hair and lightly jerked her head back further. She moaned in pain at the slight twinge it sent down her body, but she kept her eyes on Rio's pushing him to do whatever he wanted to do to punish her. She just wanted it over with./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"His mouth attacked hers in one fluid motion. He kissed her hard and Beth quickly returned his ferocity. There was nothing sensual about it. His anger was coming out in that kiss. He pressed her against the wall with his body and took old of her bottom lip between his teeth. The only gentle thing about it was his hand keeping her head from being banged against the wall. And in a split second Beth felt the coldness once he pulled away. He placed his gun back in his jeans and straightened his shirt, leaving Beth dumbfounded and throbbing for more./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""You can go." He said without looking at her again./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth stared at his back unsure how to move her legs. Clumsily, she walked out of his office and shut the door. She stood there for a moment trying to put together what just happened when she realized she was tasting blood from where he bit her lip. She had no words and she walked down the steps in complete disarray./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Rio made sure she was gone before he propped his forehead in his hands on the desk. He shouldn't have done it. He lost it. He wanted to punish her for what she started downstairs. All he could concentrate on was her mouth as he yelled in her face. It was right there for him to take. He should have lied and told her he came to fire her or something last night. She fucking knew he was there. Why did he do that?! It tasted like he knew it would and it felt even better. What had he just done?/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Once at home, Ruby and Annie stayed at Beth's to get the details of how much shit she was in for what she had done. Beth still looked dumbfounded as she walked into the kitchen. Ruby ran for the glasses and frozen peas for Beth's face, while Annie ran for the top shelf liquor and poured everyone a drink. They stood around the island as they watched Beth down hers in one smooth gulp./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""May I have another?" She said in a breathy tone./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Annie quickly poured more of the amber liquid and they watched Beth down that one as well. She and Ruby exchanged worried curious looks./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Okay, so, you want to talk about it?" Ruby asked, "Are you in a lot of trouble?"/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth looked down at her glass and back up at the girls, "I'm not sure. I think I may be."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Annie's brow furrowed in confusion, "You're not sure? What did he say?"/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Well," She began taking a deep breath," He grabbed me by my hair and pointed his gun at my face after I pointed out that he hadn't gotten it out. He asked me if I thought I was special and I told him yes because he obviously treats me differently than everyone else. He proceeded to tell me I wasn't and I asked him if I wasn't special why did I see him leaving my backyard last night."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Annie gasped, "Beth! Was he in here while we were talking?"/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth shrugged, "I don't know. He didn't say anything after I told him that I saw him leaving."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""If he was in here, he knows how you feel about him." Annie freaked downing her drink./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""What happened next? Are you done? Are you in trouble?" Ruby questioned./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""I don't know. After I called him out, he kissed me." Beth said taking the bottle and pouring herself another drink and held the bag of peas up to her cheek./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Annie sucked in so much air she almost choked on it, "Hold the mother fucking phone! He kissed you!"/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth's eyes grew wide, "You guys, it wasn't that kind of kiss. He like attacked my mouth. It was animalistic and angry and scary passionate. He pushed me against the wall with his body. He bit my lip so hard it started bleeding. He was so mad at me, but he wanted me, too. It's like he didn't know what side was winning. As if kissing me like that instead of how I would like him to kiss me was my punishment."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Ruby shook her head looking for the words, "Are you okay? How do you feel about it?"/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Honestly, it scared me, but I've also never been more aroused in my entire life. He wanted to rip me to shreds because in all of this I keep making him look stupid, but he won't do anything about it. When he pulled away from me, I hated it. I wanted him to keep going, but he just turned away and told me to leave the office."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Oh, my God." Ruby murmured downing the rest of her drink, "You literally don't know what you're walking into tomorrow. You don't know if he's still mad at you or wants to sleep with you."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""I think we all know he wants to sleep with her." Annie cracked./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;""Jesus, Annie. This is more serious than that. It's like he unhinged when it comes to Beth. He's unpredictable and Rio was scary enough as it was before this." Ruby explained, "The boy can't get a grip on you and I don't think he likes that."/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%;"Beth's insides churned as she listened to Ruby. All of them hadn't really been scared of Rio since after the first couple of weeks of knowing him. They strangely got used to turning the corner and his face just being there. They believed his threats, but they also knew he was growing to like them regardless of what he said to Beth about them being charity to him. Rio didn't give charity. Why would he? There was something about these girls that he found entertaining it seemed. But now they had really pissed him off. They poured gasoline on the fire when they turned him in. If he felt about Beth the way everyone believed him to, then he's being pulled into a few different directions emotionally and Rio didn't do emotion. Who's to say he wouldn't eliminate the one causing the emotion?/p 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rio

Rio massaged his forehead as Cisco stood leaning against the wall. He had had the worst headache for days and he was starting to think it was from being stuck in the warehouse. Cisco smirked and pulled a joint from his shirt pocket and lit it up. Rio's head popped up and he eyed his right hand man.

"We're at work." Rio reminded him.

Cisco took a hit and sighed, "Look I don't know what else to do to help you, so," Cisco turned and locked the office door and passed the joint to Rio./p  
"Rio put it to his lips and inhaled deeply as he leaned back in his large desk chair.

"Good, right?" Cisco wiggled his eyebrows.

Rio grinned and nodded, "Yeah, man."

"Well," He said taking another hit, "You didn't ask me up here to sit and stare at you, so what do you want to talk about?" Rio didn't respond as he kept staring at his desk, "Rio. I've been by your side for twenty years. You can talk to me about anything that's on your mind. Whether its the business, or your home life, or a girl… You know, just anything."

He huffed and unbuttoned his top button and rolled up his sleeves, he suddenly felt suffocated, "I don't know what to do. Everyone is going to start questioning my sanity about keeping her around. She's driving me up the wall."

"So, let's kill her and get it over with." Cisco suggested managing to keep a straight face.

"He cracked a smile, "It's not that simple… I can't get her off my mind and I shouldn't be thinking about her the way I am after what she did to me. I keep reminding her that she's not special and she doesn't mean a thing to me, knowing that she knows its not true. She just keeps coming for me and I can't make myself do anything to her. When they put the cuffs on me, I knew who it was. There was not a doubt in my mind that it was Beth. Even then, I was just thinking to myself, touche. I was kind of impressed by her for having enough balls to stand up to me."

"You know, I remember a long time ago there this girl. She was amazing and every guy that saw her walk down the street wanted her. She just had that certain something that drew people to her. And everyone knew who's girl that was. She was fiery and quick to make a regrettable decision. But her guy was crazy about her and knew no matter what crazy shit she did to get through to him, she loved him. He put her on a pedestal so high that she had no choice but to fall and the wrong people caught her and it got her killed." Cisco said quietly.

Rio's brow furrowed as he remembered Sasha, "What are you tryin' to say?"

"I'm trying to tell you that you lost one love of your life acting too much like a bad ass and keeping her at arm's length in that ivory tower that didn't save her life. Maybe you shouldn't do the same with this one."

A chuckle fell from Rio's mouth, "You think I'm in love with Beth?"

Cisco looked Rio dead in the eye, "I've seen you act like this twice since I've known you and the first time was when you were in love with Sasha and the second time is now. The common denominator you that fact that you care too deeply about someone and you don't know how to handle it. I see you look at her. I can tell when you're thinking about her because it's the same look you would get on your face when you would look at Sasha."

Rio was deep in thought for a moment, "Love is a liability in this business."

"Well, if it had been anyone else that cold cocked an employee in the pit, they'd be out of here. But she's still here." Cisco pointed out.

"For now." Rio argued.

Cisco snorted as he took another hit of his joint, "For good."

Rio cut his eyes as he wanted to argue, but he knew it would do no good. Cisco knew him better than most. He was people reader and rarely wrong about anyone. It's why Rio made him his right hand. Cisco had been with Rio through thick and thin, had his back through every up and down. He was more like a brother than a friend.

"Tell you one thing, Rio. Beth can throw a punch." He chuckled.

A wide grin spread across Rio's face, "When she hit big ass Barb, I about fell out on the floor. She flew off that chair at her like a spider monkey."

Cisco laughed deeply, "Barb was trying not to look too shocked, but I could tell she was thinking that Beth was a crazy, white bitch. She knows how to handle herself for sure. Tough as nails, that one."

Rio shook his head at the memory of yesterday, "Barb's been giving her the worst of it out of everybody, but I really didn't think Beth would bite back, not like that."

"I think you know better than anyone that that fire crotch has some bite to her." He laughed again as he passed the joint over.

Smoke escaped his mouth as he laughed at Cisco, "She is full of surprises."

Cisco nodded, seemingly pleased with himself, "Well, that's one step closer. I'm going to check on everything downstairs."

"Hey," Rio stopped him, "what do you mean one step closer?"

Cisco smiled, "You laughed about Beth."

Rio shrugged his shoulders, "So?"

"In my book laughter means you're one step closer to forgiveness." Cisco explained, "I'll see you later."

Beth

Beth walked in behind Annie and Ruby. She had mentally prepared herself for the fact that her actions the day before had may of made things worse. Yet, she quickly noticed that no one had a shitty look on their face, no one was whispering, and no one shoved her. Beth tried not to get too excited because she knew a backlash could come later, so she picked up the next box she was working on and went on about her business.

"Mornin', slugger." Cisco greeted, "Sorry Carlos had to pick you up. Boss needed me."

"It's okay." Beth smiled and sucked in a little when her bruise made it's presence known.

"Damn, girl. That's a shiner if I ever saw one." He said examining it closer.

She chuckled, "Does it make me look tough?"

"Hell yeah!"

"No one is being shitty to me this morning. Are they going to attack me in the parking lot later?" She asked.

Cisco smiled and shook his head, "Nah, you took down big ass Barb. They're probably a little scared of you now."

"Big ass Barb?" Beth questioned, "Is that what you call her or her name?"

"Look at you kicking ass first and taking names later. It's what we call her. To be honest, I don't even know if her real name is Barb." He smirked.

"What did he say about it? Is he going to kill me this time?" She asked not knowing if he she really wanted to know the answer.

"I think by now you should know that he's not going to kill you."

Beth shrugged, "But he's really mad at me. I managed to start more trouble. What if he kills me because I'm too much of a liability?"

"Look, you my girl, right? We're homies at this point. You're good. Okay."

"You promise?"

He rolled his eyes, "I think at this point he'd fire you and take a chance on you turning him in again before he kills you."

"Can I confide in you?"

Cisco shrugged, "I don't see why not."

"No. No, I need to know this will stay between us because I really can't figure him out." Beth explained becoming a little nervous.

"This caught Cisco's attention, "It's good, Beth. I'm listening."

Beth eyed the warehouse to make sure there were no listening ears and she stepped a closer to him, "He kissed me in the office yesterday. Very angrily. There was nothing sweet or affectionate about it and then he just told me to leave. What am I supposed to do with that?"

Cisco sighed as he contemplated his answer, "I wouldn't worry about it. Rio is really stressed right now and I think it's making him do things he doesn't normally do. Just let it slide."

Beth's heart sank a little as she listened to Cisco, but she nodded in understanding and went back to her files.

Cisco looked up toward the office as he walked away and eyed Rio. Rio just popped one eyebrow up letting Cisco know he wasn't in the mood to discuss what he assumed Beth had just told him.

Beth and Rio

There was a light tap on the door breaking Rio from his thoughts, "Come in."

Beth opened the door and slid in quietly as if scared she would upset the lion if she were too loud.

"What can I do for you, Elizabeth?" He asked in an uninterested tone as he kept his eyes on what he was doing.

"Are you done with that box? It's the last one. All the others are finished." She said trying to keep the shakiness at bay as she thought about what transpired the day before.

He looked up at her and stared for a moment. Beth tried to remain still as she felt she was being examined under a microscope in science class.

"You're done with all the other boxes?" He clarified as he leaned back in his chair clasping his fingers together over his flat stomach.

She had to mentally tell herself to not let her gaze fall down his torso as she nodded, "Yes, they're all finished."

"That was quick. If this is your last one, you'll be finished here." He said placing the box up on the desk.

Beth furrowed her brow, "Finished? Like I'm done working for you?"

Rio nodded as she sat back down, "Yeah."

She stood for a moment as she thought about everything that she had done, "You're telling me that I turned you into the Feds and started a fight at work and all I had to do was organize files in boxes to make you feel compensated for what I did?"

He sighed in annoyance and shrugged, "I hate paperwork."

Beth chuckled ironically, "You hate paperwork? That's the best thing you can come up with?"

"I don't need to come up with anything. You did your job and now it's finished. End of story." He told her very matter of factly.

"Sure, whatever you say, Rio." She snapped grabbing the box.

"You gotta problem?"

"No, I can tell when I'm being pushed out. I'll finish this box and I'll go home." Beth said slamming the door behind her.

Rio sat calmly for a minute before he knocked a cup of pens off his desk in anger. He groaned as he ran his hands down his face in frustration. He felt like he couldn't take much more of her. She always stood up to him. Annie and Ruby usually did exactly what he said with little sass, but not Beth, she questioned or pushed him on everything. She wanted more and even though he wasn't sure what more meant, he was finding it hard not to give it to her.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Beth

Beth's frustration mounted as she shoved the very last file into it's proper place. Done. Rio says she's done. She huffed loudly and looked up to his office window for the hundredth time since she walked out with the last box. Just a couple days ago she was chewing him out for even taking this box from her because she knew he would just mess it up and now she was feeling some sort of way that she was done with her task. He was pushing her away from him. She wasn't an idiot and she wasn't going to be pushed out that easily. She looked around the warehouse and weighed her options.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Annie walking towards her. Beth thought about what she could do in her mind and how childish it would seem to Rio, but since her was back was to the wall she took this as her only option. She could tell Annie was on a mission and about to walk passed her to Cisco near the door. Beth took another look up at the office and then a deep breath. She turned her back to Annie and pretended to be looking through the boxes, and she listened for her sister's footsteps. When the moment was right, Beth smoothly stuck her foot out far enough to make Annie trip.

"Shit!" Annie gasped as she fell into a couple of the boxes and watched them tumble onto the floor.

Beth smiled to herself as she saw the papers fall onto the ground. She held out her arms to make sure Annie didn't fall on the ground completely, "Damn it, Annie. Are you okay?"

Annie cocked her head to the side and eyed her sister, "Yes, Beth, I'm fine."

Beth raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure?" She asked through gritted teeth.

Annie sighed in annoyance as she picked up on Beth's game, "Yes, I'm sorry I knocked over your boxes." She replied through gritted teeth as well./p  
"Don't be mad at me." She whispered, "He was going to send me home and I didn't want to leave you guys here without me."

"Annie snorted and rolled her eyes, "Sure, Beth. Sure."

Beth's phone vibrated in her pocket as she gave Annie the evil eye, "Hello… Oh, my God. Is he okay?… Okay, okay. I'm on my way!"

"What's wrong?" Annie asked worried.

"Kenny is at the hospital." She replied shakily as she began grabbing all her things.

"Annie's eyes grew wide, "What?! What happened?"

"He was in a wreck. Cisco!" Beth shouted across the room as she ran to him.

Cisco jumped up from his spot and saw Beth's concern.

"Can you take me to the hospital? It's my son."

"Yeah, let's get it, girl." He replied grabbing his keys and quickly heading for the car.

"Call me as soon as you can!" Annie called out after her.

Ruby came up beside Annie, "What's wrong?"

"Kenny's been in a wreck." She replied.

Ruby's eyes became worried and sympathetic all at once, "Oh, shit."

Beth and Rio

Beth dragged her tired bones out of the cab and trudged to her front door. She unlocked it and once she was inside, her back slid down the door and sat on the floor. She looked her phone to see that it was 11:00 pm and she rested her head in her hand as she took in the days events. Her eyelids were tired and wide awake all at the same time. She felt like she was dozing off on the floor for a moment.

"Is your kid okay?"  
Beth's eye's popped open and she stood back up quickly and ungracefully. She peaked around the door frame and saw Rio sitting on her kitchen island eating an apple.

She sighed and set her things down on the table, "He's going to be fine." She said walking to the fridge and grabbing two glasses, "Wine?"

Rio raised an eyebrow at her, "Yeah."

Beth poured them both a glass and she drank half of hers in a gulp.

He smirked as he took a sip, "So, what happened?"

She shook her head as she thought about it, "Kenny is in a soccer carpool for when Dean or I can't drive him. They got hit on Kenny's side of the car. Everyone is okay. But Kenny broke his arm and has to have surgery tomorrow to get pins in his elbow. He's got to stay over night at the hospital and Dean is keeping the other three so I can get to the hospital early tomorrow. So to say the least I need tomorrow off." Beth downed the rest of her glass and poured another.

Rio chuckled as he drank the rest of his glass and set it down for another. She poured it and slid it back to him "Elizabeth, I already told you you're finished."

"Annie knocked over some boxes that I need to reorganize." Beth argued as she continued drinking.

Annie knocked them over, I made her fix them." Rio said as he eyed Beth.

Beth's heart sank. First of all, Annie was going to kill her. Second of all, she had no other plan to keep her in Rio's line of sight.

"You shouldn't have done that. It wasn't her fault." She replied leaning against the island.

"You shouldn't have tripped her."

Beth looked up at his brown eyes. She knew he really knew and wasn't just guessing. She also knew her sister didn't rat her out, "Are you watching me or something?"

Rio just looked at her and then down at his wine glass.

"Rio," Beth began with a whisper, "I don't want to be done. Will you let me keep working?"

He shook his head and downed his second glass before looking at her, "Those blue eyes don't get you everything. I don't want you wrapped up in this life. I need you to go back to bake sales, and taking your own kid to soccer practice, and grocery shopping. Preferably, not at Fine and Frugal. Make up with Dean and forget about what you've seen or done over the last few weeks, yeah?"

Beth couldn't hide the disappointment and heart ache as she listened to Rio's words. She could feel her eyes becoming more glossy as she thought about her alternative to working for him, "I don't want to go back. I can't go back. Not to that. When I think about that life compared to what I'm doing now, I'd rather die than go back to that hollow, bullshit existence. I was wasting away in that life. Living in ignorance is bliss, while my husband slowly choked the life out of everything we had built for twenty years." Beth hid her face in her hand as she tears began spilling over, "I'm not going back to Dean. There's nothing there for me anymore. I want to be in charge of my life and make it what I want it. I know you're still mad at me, Rio. And I don't deserve for you to give me a job, but I'm asking anyway."

"Do you have a bored house wife thing going on? You got the seven year itch a little late, yeah? You need some danger and you think you want this life, but you don't. You needed adrenaline so you didn't have to sit here and think about what he did to you."

Beth grabbed the bottle of wine and her glass and made her way to the living room, "You're always so good at being mean to me." She said over her shoulder as she plopped on her couch with her feet tucked underneath her.

Rio looked up at the ceiling, silently cursing his tactic. He hopped off the counter and sat on the coffee table in front of Beth. He took the bottle and poured some more in his glass, "I can't afford to be nice in my line of business."

"You're nice to Cisco and Carlos. You didn't chew out big ass Barb. No one else gets called upstairs to get their asses reamed." She argued taking a swig from the bottle.

"I just enjoy our little moments together." He laughed and he propped his chin up with his hand.

Beth knew he meant it as a joke, but she knew better, too, "I can't imagine walking into my house and you never being here to see me." She whispered before she realized what she was even saying out loud. Her eyes grew wide for a moment as did Rio's.

"What did you say?" Rio asked looking her dead in the eye with shock written all over his face as his brow creased.

Beth stared deep into his eyes. She followed the lines of his face and took in the shape and every crease. emFuck it. If he's firing me, then I've got nothing to lose, she thought, "I said... I wish I could explain your eyes. And how the sound of your voice gives me butterflies. And how your smile makes my heart skip a beat. And all I've been able to think about is your lips on mine and you pushing me up against that wall."

Rio's breath was caught in his throat as he listened to Beth's words. On the list of things they were going to discuss tonight, this was not in the realm of possibilities. She just told him how she felt about him out loud. Confirmation of this game they've been playing, there it was.

"I was seventeen when I got into this game. I was learning the ropes real fast, ya know. Me, Cisco, and eventually Carlos were well liked and I was moving up the chain quicker than anybody else." He paused to take a large gulp of wine as he worked up the courage to finish, "I was in love with this girl. This amazing girl. I had been with her since I was sixteen. Her name was Sasha. I was gonna be king and she was gonna be queen in this world that I was making my name in. I had her by my side every step. I had no problem knocking some fucker out that looked at her in a way I didn't like. And I wasn't touched. Everybody knew me and everybody feared me. I was so young and stupid. I never thought about consequences.

"We were married in a chapel on the strip in Vegas. Just me and her. She was the only eighteen year old bride with a 2 karat diamond on her finger. Then as I started making my way up, I became paranoid and scared because I realized that everyone knew she was my weakness. I had made it so obvious that she would be my downfall and that was my fuck up. Finally, I had pissed so many people off that there was no coming back from it. They didn't take her as a bargaining ship. They had no intention of letting her go. They had taken her as a lesson. She was tortured and killed and sent back to me. I had to act like it was nothing to me. Because if I had shown that her being killed had broken me, they would have taken me down too. I haven't loved anyone since Sasha. I haven't been in a relationship. I haven't been interested in any woman for anything other than sex since she was killed…You ever just been afraid to say something out loud? Afraid of where it's going to go, or not go. Afraid if it's gonna hurt."

Beth's breath was deep and shaky, "Yeah, three minutes ago before you told me that story."

"I see you differently and that scares the shit out of me. I see this person with all the potential in the world and then I see the asshole that took from her. I know you would be good at this. You've proven that to me. It's not about your ability. It's about my feelings for you. I made peace with the fact after Sasha died that I don't get to have love, or a partner. I signed up for that. I can't keep you in this game with me because I can't be the reason you get hurt." Rio explained with a heavy heart.

Beth wiped the tears from her face, "So, essentially it's a no. You could've just said no."

"You would have argued with me." He pointed out.

"You think I'm not now? I'm sorry that happened to you. I really am. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. But it doesn't mean you get to make my decisions for me. I still want to do this. You've given me this fire and you believe in me and I love that feeling. I haven't had that in years."

"My answer is no. To the job and to us." Rio said with finality.

Beth thought she and Rio had been on a level playing field was now gone. All the possibilities were shattered, but she nodded nonetheless, "I'm sorry you feel that way."

Rio looked at her for moment before nodding once and standing to leave, "I really didn't want something like this to happen. That's why I treated you the way I did. I was trying to push you away. That and the fact that you turned me in to the Feds."

"I know you what you were doing." She said looking up at him from the sofa. Rio stood with a heavy heart as he looked at her pitiful face on the couch. It was the only time he had seen her bright eyes look dull, "Good-bye, Elizabeth."

"Good bye, Rio." She whispered.

Rio

Rio closed her front door, got in his car, and drove away as quickly as he could. When he came to a stop light, he smacked his steering wheel multiple times and laid his head back on the head rest. He wanted to turn around and take it all back, but he had rules for a reason. He was where he was because he had followed his own rules. Her face looked so broken. He hated himself for getting to this point of caring about someone enough again to be hurt by it.

He only knew one thing to do. He put on his blinker and a few turns later he was pulling into a small, quaint house in a middle class neighborhood. He didn't give himself time to think about it before he was on the porch knocking on the door. An attractive, young, dark haired woman opened the door wearing shorts and a tank top.

She propped up against the door frame and looked him up and down, "Well,"She purred, "You haven't been around in a while."

Rio pursed his lips, not int the mood to play the game, "Yeah, works been busy, Sheila."

She ran her fingers through her hair, "So, do you want to come in?"

Rio didn't answer. He just walked in passed her. Sheila just smiled and closed the door.

"Would you like a drink, Rio?"

"Yeah, anything strong." He replied taking his black coat off.

She poured two fingers Jack Daniels and walked it to him, "Here you go."

He downed it quickly as he kept his eyes turned down at her. The whiskey burned down his throat as he thought really hard about what he would do next. Beth wasn't his nor was he hers, yet here he was feeling guilty and sad that this girl wasn't Beth. He set his glass down and took Sheila into his arms. Just like a practiced routine, she immediately slid her arms around his neck and met his lips with hers. Rio pushed her against the wall and forced himself to kiss her fully and deeply. He had to forget Beth.

Sheila moaned in his mouth as she pulled back slightly, "You want to take this to my room?"br /Rio didn't reply, he just took her hand and walked quickly through the house to her bedroom. She slipped her tank top off and pushed Rio on the bed. He sat there looking at her beautiful body and her bare chest thinking about everything he could do to her if he wanted to.

She studied his face and sighed, "Are you okay? You don't really seem into this."

Rio nodded his head, "I'm good. Come here."

She walked to the bed and straddled him. He kissed sucked on her collarbone and she began unbuttoning his shirt. Sheila's hands raked down his chest as she pushed him down on the bed and began unbuttoning his pants. Rio's breathing became deeper and stressed as he tried to concentrate.

"He sighed, "Wait." He said as he sat up and leaned back on his hands.

"What's wrong?" She said sitting next to him, covering her chest with her pillow, "You're here, but your head isn't. Is it work?"

Rio just shook his head and kept his eyes on the wall in front of him.

Look, I know what we are. I know this is sex and that's all we've ever done, but if you want to talk about whatever it is, you can." Sheila offered studying his face./p  
Rio snorted, "Regardless of what we are, I don't think you'll really care about what's on my mind right now."

"Is it a woman?" She asked nudging his shoulder.

He finally turned and met her eye, "How'd you know?"

Sheila rolled her eyes, "Well, I'm attractive and naked and you don't want to have sex with me. So, there must be somebody occupying your mind since I can't get your body's attention."

"I'm sorry I came over here like this." He said putting his shirt back on.

"It's okay. It's probably better that you don't come over anymore. This isn't the place for you anymore, Rio." She said with a shrug of her shoulder./p  
Rio nodded in understanding. He knew he'd broken the simple little arrangement they had, so it was best to let it be. Sheila opened the door for Rio and he slipped on his coat as he stepped out the door.

"Hey." Sheila said.

Rio turned with a cocked eyebrow, "Yeah?"

"If she's got your attention like this, maybe you should be at her house instead of looking for somewhere else to go." She pointed out with a smile as she closed the door.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Beth  
Beth sat in Kenny's hospital room as he laid asleep. His successful surgery took Beth's mind off the terrible night she had before. She watched her precious, sleeping child as his chest breathed air in and out. He was okay and she was so thankful that she could cry thinking about how badly that wreck could have gone.

"Beth?" Dean's voice whispered.

"Hey." She replied as he sat next to her.

"He's still out, huh?"

"Yeah. Hopefully for a while. He'll be in some pain when he wakes up." She said.

Dean nodded, "I can take over here. You've been her all day. Why don't you go to home and rest for a while?"

"I should be here when he wakes up." Beth said still watching him.

"Beth, it's a broken arm, not fake cancer, okay. I can handle him. You've been here for almost twelve hours."

Beth looked wide eyed at Dean, "You made a joke about fake cancer. I don't know if I should laugh or slap you, Dean Boland. We are not there yet."

"Okay, okay." Dean held his hands up in surrender, "My point is, go home and rest on real furniture."

She thought for a moment, "You'll tell him I was here with him today?"

"Of course, even though he already knows that."

"Okay, I'm going to stop at your parents house and see the kids on the way home. I'll let them know everything is okay with Kenny."

"I'll call you when he wakes up." Dean promised as Beth gathered her things and left the room.

Annie, Ruby, and Rio

"Annie groaned and threw her head back in frustration as she hung up her phone, "Ugh, God."

"Still going to voicemail?" Ruby said stirring her coffee and looking around the warehouse.

"Yes. I hate touch screen phones. I can't hang up angrily without breaking it. I need a land line phone that I can slam down on the table." She said as she pecked her phone screen with ample force.

"Rio needs to make sure she's okay." Ruby said looking up towards the office.

"Okay, let's think about this calmly. What are the odds that this person, whoever they are, got to Beth? She's not important, right?" Annie asked as she chewed her nails.

Ruby nodded along, "But if we're all here on lock down at the warehouse, then she's the only one by herself. I think it's too risky."

"Yes, but she's still unimportant." Annie argued.

"Maybe to the business- for the most part, but let me rap about something. How often do you think Rio has made late night visits to Beth's house? And what are the odds someone may have been following him at some point? I mean, is that possible?" Ruby pointed out.

Annie's eyes grew wide and her brows knitted together in panic, "Is it completely out of the realm of possibilities? I feel like he's been there more than she's told me because she was always denying her feelings about him."

"Shit, Annie! What if she's hurt?" Ruby exclaimed, "Come on." She grabbed Annie's hand and went marching up the stairs to Rio's office, "Okay, you knock."

"What?!" Annie snapped, "You dragged me up here! You knock! He likes you better!"

""It's your sister! Just knock on the door!" Ruby shouted.

The door was jerked open and they both jumped back.

"What do you two need?" Rio asked with an annoyed look on his face.

Annie cleared her throat, "Beth's phone is still going to voicemail. She said she would call me and let me know about Kenny. You don't think it's possible that she's hurt, right?"

Rio's face grew hard, "How long have you been trying to call her?"

"A couple of hours. I called Dean and he said she had left the hospital at 4:00. She never doesn't answer." She explained with worry in her voice, "I know you go to her house a lot. Could someone have followed you and knows where she lives?"

Rio looked over his shoulder at Carlos and Cisco. They nodded and walked past Rio and the girls, "I'll handle it. Just stay here, yeah?"

"Okay." Annie replied barely above a whisper.

Beth and Rio

There was a knock at her front door. Beth whimpered as a tall, bearded man held a gun to her cheek. Her arms were tied behind her back to her dining room chair and a gag in her mouth.

"Don't make a noise." He whispered pushing the gun into her temple.

"Beth, you home?" Carlos' voice echoed in the foyer as he knocked some more.

Tears fell down her face as she listened to Carlos' voice, just praying he would keep knocking until his hand fell off. But his voice trailed off and she realized he was leaving the porch and she was struggling to keep her sobs quiet.

"Well, where were we?" He asked walking into her kitchen looking around, "Oh, that's right. Rio's interest in you. He seems to show favor to you over his other employees and I can see why. You're easy on the eyes, but I feel like it's more than that." He walked back over to Beth and slipped the gag out of her mouth, "What do you think?"

"I owed Rio money and I paid him back. That's all." She said in a shaky voice.

"Hm. I don't think so. I've known Rio for a long time and he's not one to spend time with lower level employees that clean his money." He surmised.

She chuckled ironically, "He doesn't spend time with me. He's just making sure I don't steal money from him again. Or turn him into the Feds. Again. He doesn't have an investment in me other than a debt and I don't know anything about his business."

The man paced her house as he took her words into thought. She frantically looked around for anything to help her get out of the chair.

"These your kids? They're cute and so young."

"They're expensive, too."

The man laughed, "You're pretty funny. I like your sarcasm."

Rio watched from a corner window from her backyard as Cisco and Carlos met him there.

"Was there anybody watching the house?" He asked keeping his eyes in Beth's back.

"We took care of them." Cisco confirmed as he eyed the situation, "Who is it?"

Rio raised an eyebrow as he watched the man point the gun at Beth's head again, "Someone from a long time ago. Let's just handle this."

"I really don't know any information. I just clean the money and that's all there is to it." Beth was close to shouting out of fear.

"I know Rio and I know how he treats people that are close to him. You're close."

Beth heard her back door open and her heart began beating even faster.

"Well, speak of the devil." The bearded man gave a devilish grin as he saw Rio enter the room. He put the gun back to her head and waited for Rio to speak.

Rio stood with his hands clasped together in front of him with Carlos at his side, "You bothering my employees, Angel?"

Beth whimpered as he turned her chair around pushed the gun harder into her temple. Rio looked at her face but kept his exterior hard. His blood was boiling, "You okay, Elizabeth?"

She nodded once and gasped when Angel put his arm around her.

"We were just getting acquainted. She's a pretty one, I see why you keep her around."

"If you needed a job, Angel, you should have called." Rio said appearing uninterested.

Angel laughed, "You haven't changed. Acting all hard and unbothered by the fact that I'm holding a gun to this woman's head. Like a true gangster, huh, Rio? I've been keeping my eye on you for awhile now. And I can't help but notice that almost every time I'm led here. To her. She's nothing like Sasha. Is she? Probably not as impulsive."

"You'd be surprised how impulsive this one is. What do you want, Angel?" Rio asked becoming more annoyed.

"You know what I want. You owe me. And I'm here to take what's mine."

"What happened was your stupidity. Your little side business is what got you busted. Not me." Rio spit out of displeasure.

"You turned your back on me!" Angel shouted and he hit the end table he was sitting on. Beth jumped and looked up to Rio with begging eyes.

"Let her go and we'll handle our business. She can't help you." Rio stated calmly.

"Oh, I think she can." He said cocking the gun and a scared sob escaped her mouth.

"I'm going to have to ask you to get that gun off my home girl's face." Cisco said pushing his gun into the back of Angel's head.

Angel froze and smiled, "I should have known Cisco was here somewhere."

"Good to see you, Angel. Now put your gun down. We already handled your boys. You've got no one out there to help you."

Angel sighed in annoyance trying to figure out if it were a bluff. His eyes darted around outside and his men weren't in view. Angel lowered his gun. Cisco quickly took it from him and escorted him away from Beth. Carlos followed Cisco and Rio tended to Beth.

"I'll deal with him later. Back at the warehouse. Send everyone home and tell Annie her sister is okay." Rio said as he untied Beth, "Are you alright?"

She began crying as she nodded wiping her face off, "Physically, yeah. Mentally may be a different story now. At this point, you would think I would be used to walking into this kind of shit at my house."

"Elizabeth. I was trying to avoid this." He said with such disgust in his tone. His long fingers ran over his short hair, "I've behaved stupidly when it came to you."

She sat in the chair, afraid to move, and a shaky breath escaped her lips, "You saved me."\

"Did you think I wouldn't?" He asked looking up at her tear soaked face./p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 150%;"She shrugged her shoulders, "I'm out of the circle, I figured I would have to fend for myself at this point."

Rio looked at her shaking body. He wanted to comfort her and himself if he was being honest. His hands found hers in her lap, "I will do everything I can to keep you out of harms way." He said barely above a whisper.

Beth quit shaking as she looked him in the eyes. Rio didn't flinch as she held his gaze. It was a moment of decision. They could both feel it. Though he didn't say it out loud, Beth could feel him wavering in his determination to stay away from her. His eyes flickered down to her mouth and he knew she saw it.

"Rio," She began before he took her face in his hands and met her mouth with his.

Beth gasped before she settled into what was happening. It wasn't like before. It wasn't angry or animalistic. It was passionate and everything she had ever wanted in a kiss from Rio. They stood up together and Rio pulled Beth's body close to his as he entangled one hand in her hair and the other stayed on her waist. Beth wrapped her arms around his neck letting her fingers graze his shirt collar. Each of them kept furthering the kiss, silently daring the other to take it up another level. Just as they were getting to the point of becoming weak in the knees, Rio pulled away from Beth. He could see the disappointment in her eyes and the swell in her lips.

"What's wrong?" She asked in a breathy tone.

Rio shook her head and looked down before looking her in the eyes again, "I can't now. I have to go deal with Angel."

She nodded and more disappointment flooded her mind as he hands pulled away from her body. He headed for the front door.

He opened it and paused, "Hey."

Beth turned to look at him, "Yeah?"

"He gave her his best Rio grin and she couldn't help but smile back. With that he walked out the door and Beth squealed into a pillow as she fell to the sofa.

Rio

Rio pulled up to the warehouse that Carlos and Cisco had vacated as they were told. All that remained was their two vehicles and now Rio's. He had a new found cocky feeling about himself as he walked into the warehouse and walked into a side door. There was a hallway that he followed until he came to the door at the end. He opened it. Angel sat tied to a chair and Carlos and Cisco waited for direction in the corner. Rio drug a chair with him as he walked slowly and deliberately towards Angel. Angel smirked at Rio's scare tactic.

He stopped the chair a foot from Angel and sat down so they were almost touching knees. Rio cocked an eyebrow and studied Angel's face for a long moment. Trying to figure out where his friend went wrong and how he missed the signs that someone was watching him. There was a lot of history between the two of them. Most of it good, until it wasn't anymore. Angel chose to dabble in drugs and got caught. It wasn't Rio's job to bail him out of his own fuck up.

"Why are you following me, Angel?" Rio asked setting his gun on his knee keeping it aimed at Angel.

Angel shrugged and chuckled ironically, "I figured I owed you a visit after ten years of not hearing anything from you on the inside."

"You put me and the rest of my crew in a bad spot with that little stunt you pulled, yeah. What? You weren't making enough money? Or did you want to be king? Either way, you knew from the beginning, I don't go out on the line for people who break my rules." He explained.

"You were like my brother! You left me to rot in there!" Angel yelled before spitting on Rio's shoe.

Rio shook his head as an ironic grin spread across his face, "I know. That's why I couldn't believe you went behind my back the way you did and disrespected me. Because you were my brother, too. There's two sides to every coin. Two sides to every story. And there's a lie and a truth. You made a choice. You chose to leave the security of working for me for a pathetic little side hustle. But you forgot you aren't smart enough for that responsibility. That's why I'm in charge."

"You're right. You're the smart one. Until a fine ass female comes into the picture and you go all kinds of stupid. That red head is something else. I don't blame you for wanting to tap that, but I gather from what I've seen the last few weeks, it goes deeper than just a little ass. Or in her case a lot of ass. Curvy ass. She's got you hooked and you got dumb." Angel grinned as he saw Rio's jaw become rigid, "Yeah, I see you, Rio. And I see what she does to you. Just like Sasha."

"What do you want from me? I can't give you back time and fucking with Elizabeth will only get you killed." Rio sat and waited for a response.

"I want part of the game." He replied.

"Can't trust you. You should have come to me like a man, but you had to do it this way. Knowing my history, I would think you would understand that, but again the impulsive idiot in you takes over." He said standing and turning away.

"You just going to leave me here? Let your dogs play with me." He asked with a little panic giving him away.

"They're good at dealing with problems like you and they're paid well for it. You should have taken a cue from them in the old days." Rio retorted as he kept walking.

"You going to see your woman?!" Angel shouted across the room. Rio paused and looked back at him, "I saw her. She was changing when I was in the house. She looks soft."

Rio studied Angel, weighing his options. He smirked and looked to Carlos and Cisco and gave one firm nod before turning to leave the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
Beth  
Annie poured some tea and brought it to Beth. Ruby was taking a shot of hard liquor.

"Could you just give me a splash of that in here?" Beth asked holding her tea cup out.  
Ruby poured a heavy amount of liquor into her cup, "How are you feeling? I know I felt like I was having a heart attack when Cisco called to tell us what happened?"

"Maybe I'm just numb at the moment, but after the guys took him away, I just got in my car and went to see Kenny. I think we're all becoming really desensitized to this life or something. I haven't broken down yet." She explained running her hands through her hair, "Thank you guys from coming to my rescue."

"We just knew something had to be wrong, Sis. I'm just glad the guys made it here in time." Annie said rubbing her sister's leg.

"We're just so gangsta now." Ruby mumbled as she took another swig out of her bottle.

Beth and Annie looked at each other and laughed.

"Are we? We're so gangsta?" Annie chuckled throwing her head back on the couch.

"I mean, yeah we are! Look at what we've done the few weeks. We're not longer basic bitches and I think we should be slightly proud of how we've handled things. Can you imagine how we would have handled this before we robbed Fine and Frugal?" Ruby explained.

Beth nodded, "You know, you're right. We are a little gangsta. Damn. I don't when it happened. We just like transformed."

"Well," Annie held up her glass, "here's to three gangsta bitches!"

"They all clanged their glasses and downed their drinks.

Beth and Rio

Beth looked over at Ruby and Annie sleeping on her couch and smiled. Those two would probably never know how much they meant to Beth. She carefully got up, so not to wake them and covered them with the throw blanket. She quietly gathered up the glasses and walked toward the kitchen where Rio was waiting on her. She stopped in her tracks and he took the glasses from her and set them on the counter. She always expected him to be there when she turned a corner, yet it still surprised her all the same. Rio had a whimsical look on his face. She had been waiting for him to come back to her. Beth needed to see him and look him in the eyes again. They stared for a moment and the tears started to fill in her eyes as she thought about what had happened earlier… What he had saved her from. Rio sighed understanding everything that was racing through her head. His pinky brushed her hair from her face and caught the tear that had started to fall down her cheek. She leaned into his hand, savoring the feeling of it. Rio took her by the hand and led her down the hall to her room and closed the door behind them.

She didn't make a move. She waited to see where he was going to take this because with Rio she never knew what to expect. She leaned up against her dresser and waited for him to speak.

"I thought-" He began before pausing to gather his thoughts, "I didn't know when I got here today if I was going to find you dead or not. That scared me." He looked up at her and her eyes were staying on his, "This life is not for the faint hearted and it's not easy to care about me. And you have a funny way of showing it sometimes."

"Rio-" She tried to speak.

"Just wait. Let me say this. I don't know what this means. Any of this because I haven't been here in a long time. I do know the fear I felt for you tells me something. I don't know if I can trust you but I also don't know if I can make myself stay away from you anymore." Rio took a deep breath trying to decide if this next part was worth sharing. It could possibly break something that hadn't truly started just yet. "When I left here the other night, I went to a woman's house. A woman I've been sleeping with on and off for a long time now and I couldn't do it. I tried. I went over there with every intention of fucking her into an oblivion to make myself try and forget about you. And as she stood there in front of me, I felt guilty. You're all I could think about and I left before anything happened. That's gotta mean something, right?"

Beth stood there dumbfounded as the bad butterflies filled her stomach. She wanted to slap him for going to a woman's house after he left her here broken and a mess, "I don't know what to say. I'm mad that you went to a woman's house, but I don't have the right to be because you're not mine. You have every right to do it, just like I do, but I don't want to."

"That's my point, Elizabeth. I don't want to either." Rio said going to her, "I wanted to be here with you. But you saw today what being with me could be like."

"But you got to me in time." She argued.

"What if I don't next time?" He asked.

Beth put her hands on the sides of his face and made him look up at her, "Then get there in time, every time."

Rio looked down as she continued to hold his face, "We can say that all day long, but you know I can't make that promise."

Beth wasn't sure if he was getting closer to her or if he was slipping away. She didn't want him to slip away again. They were on the brink of something. He made his feelings obvious, though he was still struggling with them. She was, too.

"You've changed me. You've awakened this whole different person and I don't want to lose it. I like how I am now and I like the way you make me feel. I feel more in charge, yet out of control at the same time. It's almost indescribable. You did that for me." She explained.

He smiled and shook his head, "You did that for yourself- the second you robbed that grocery store. You made this person, not me. You should give yourself more credit."

"There's lots of things we should do for ourselves. For instance, you should let yourself feel what you're feeling without fear of what could happen. Life is always a 'what if' and sometimes you have to say fuck it." Beth said, "I took a leap and told you how I felt. So, what are you going to do?"

Rio stepped back and slipped his jacket off, "I'm going to take a shower."

Beth furrowed her brow, "A shower?"

Rio cocked an eyebrow and smiled, "Yeah. You're coming right?"

A look of wide eyed surprise came across her face and she dumbly nodded. He lowly chuckled at her as he began unbuttoning his shirt. Beth's breathing became a little heavier as she watched. Rio realized that Dean hadn't done something like this for her in a long time, if ever. He discarded his shirt to the side revealing his toned, tight arms and stomach. Then he placed his hands on either side of Beth's shirt finding the hem and pulling it over her head.

Beth felt more exposed than she had in many years. Dean had been the only one to see her like this since before college. Rio continued to lay little pecks along her jaw, undoing the button on her jeans and sliding them over her hips. When they fell to the floor, Beth felt her insecurities flood to the front of her mind. When was the last time she did this with the lights on? She couldn't remember. But it was as if Rio could sense her tensing up.

He kissed on her collarbone before he stepped back and looked down at her body, "Do you know how sexy you are?"

Beth grinned shyly and shook her head, "No."

Rio turned her around to face the mirror on her dresser. He pressed himself against her back and let his hands roam her waist and her hips, "This is what a woman should look like. Soft," His hands grazed the top of her chest, "firm," He grabbed a hand full of her ass, causing a squeal from Beth, "with a lot of bounce in this area."

Beth watched the two of them in the mirror, almost hypnotized. She loved how dark his skin was in comparison to hers. She just watched as his hands roamed her body massaging and gripping bits of her body. She closed her eyes and it took her a moment to realize he wasn't behind her. She heard her shower start. Her legs began to move and she saw his naked body checking the water and grabbing two towels. Her thumbs slipped in the band of her panties and shimmied them down her legs and unhooked her bra. Rio watched her almost breathless as the bra slid down her arms revealing her chest to him. Something he had only dreamt about, and while they were good in his dreams, they were even better when awake.

She walked over to the shower and stepped in and he followed her lead, closing the door behind him. Beth stood under the water, needing the heat to wash away the thoughts of what happened today. Rio watched her as she closed her eyes and let her mouth take deep breaths through the water falling on her head. He grabbed the loofah and her body wash. She opened her eyes when she felt his hands on her. He began rubbing delicate circles on her back side with the sudsy sponge. He was in a trance as he watched the bubbles dance on her back side. She smiled lazily and turned around for him to wash her front side as well. He smirked at her as he began scrubbing her chest and down her breasts. Her eyes stayed on his as he moved his hands.

The ache between them was becoming too much. She needed his comfort and she wanted it in kisses. She took the loofah from him and tossed it on the shower floor. He pushed her back under the water, wrapping up her in his arms. She felt jolts through her body. He looked down at her and took her lips with his. He kissed her hard and good. It was soft and real and full of the passion they had for each other. Beth became weak in the knees. She had never been kissed like this before. Dean had never touched her like this or looked at her with so much desire and raw animal instinct. She didn't have to sleep with Rio to know that he would do everything so right.

Rio reached behind her and turned off the water. They stumbled out the shower as they kept kissing. He haphazardly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her. She dried off a little before using the towel to dry him.

"Come on, Mami." He whispered. He took her by the hand and lead her to her bed.

Beth crawled in and laid on her back. Rio slid in top of her wrapping his arm underneath her. They were both tired and their adrenaline was dwindling, but they weren't going to fall asleep without knowing how it felt to be together.

He lazily kissed on her collarbone as she dragged her fingers up his toned back. She could feel him growing hard and she had been ready since before the shower. His lips found hers again and without warning he slid in causing Beth the yelp in his mouth. Hurriedly she spread her legs further apart allowing his to sink in further. Rio moaned in her ear as he pulled out and pushed back in again. He filled her up completely and Beth's eyes fell closed and her mouth fell open. He began to move with a rhythm and she dug her heels in and matched his movement. Rio's breath caught in his throat as she moved. He watched her breasts jiggle again his chest and he could have cum if he kept watching them. His hand grabbed her leg propped it over his shoulder. Beth dug her nails into his shoulders as he moved faster. She could feel it coming. He was so thick and she stretched around him in sweet ecstasy.

"Rio." She said breathlessly. "I'm- I'm so close."

"Come on, Mami. I want you to finish. I want to feel it." He said in her ear.

A few more strokes and Beth's back arched up and she gripped his back leaving claw marks. "Rio." She moaned as she came.

Hearing his name like that… Out of her mouth sent him over the edge and he released. His movements became more urgent and Beth moaned loudly.

"Fuck, baby." He growled as he finished and collapsed on her.

Beth took deep breathes and looked at him to make sure it was still real. Rio lifted his head and smirked at her.

"What's that look for?" She asked grinning.

"Talk about slippery when wet, Mami." He grinned as her mouth dropped open, mocking feeling offensive.

Rio laughed and nipped at her earlobe. Beth got goosebumps as she felt the heat of his laugh on her skin. She began laughing and her cheeks turned bright red. His face found comfort in the crook of her neck and his breathing became steady. She looked down at him laying on top of her and she felt the most comfort she had in years. She wrapped her arms around him, laid her cheek on his head, and closed her eyes.


End file.
